By James Sword, HANC Board

Back in September 2021 I wrote an article asking the organized-under-COVID parent political action committee (formerly Decrease the Distance) to use their loud and well connected voices to improve issues within the school system rather than push for status quo and take credit for efforts by communities long ignored by politicians. (https://www.hanc-sf.org/24-home/639-sfusd-under-covid-19).  While this group has mostly ignored this call to action, they have continued to focus on reforming San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) to better serve themselves and other already families already benefiting from the status quo (like mine). Two areas they have focused on are 1) helping raise nearly $1,000,000 for the recall of the Pacific Islander, Latina, and Black members of the Board of Education (BOE), and 2) increasing the power of the Mayor in influencing and controlling the BOE. As early as March of 2021 people closely connected to Decrease the Distance (DtD) began pushing a charter amendment to have the Mayor appoint the BOE rather than have it as an elected board – currently the only election where non-citizens are allowed to vote.

Fast forward to December 2021 when Mayor London Breed announced she was introducing a charter amendment, “Children First” ballot measure that will make San Francisco “a national model for how cities can improve the well-being for children. The measure will reform how the City delivers services to children and create accountability measures to ensure the San Francisco School Board focuses on kids, not politics.” The word salad announcement was dripping with irony, starting with the fact that DtD politicized SFUSD when they called for schools to reopen before teachers were vaccinated by leaning on the moderate politicians representing San Francisco to push the cause, and lobbying them to withhold money from an already underfunded school district.

This charter amendment would change how the “City delivers funding and services from birth through transitional age youth, require one City Plan across all Departments for how it will serve youth and family, and bring a new level of transparency to the $200 million dollars the City spends on children and youth services.” We all hear about the $250m spent on homeless services in SF, but did you know $200m is spent on “children and youth services?” I did not. If you have ever tried to navigate or help somebody navigate the “streamlined” “one stop shopping” of the City’s homeless intake system, you are probably skeptical of having this for children services. It is also fascinating that transitional aged youth are mentioned; this group, with a large population in the Haight, has constantly been neglected by the city and attacked by then Supervisor, and now Mayor Breed.

The other part of this amendment is supposed to “create accountability by requiring the School Board to make serious changes in the way they operate — to govern and not micromanage — or they will lose access to millions of dollars provided annually by the City.” In other words, the city will micromanage the BOE and threaten to withhold money if the BOE tries to hold the district accountable and ask uncomfortable questions, because loud and well connected parents have complained to the Mayor.

The amendment seems good intentioned, much of the announcement talks about “accountability,” “good governance,” and “collaboration and transparency.” The irony is that many of these catchy terms are lacking in reality throughout the city, as no effort from city hall seems to be focused on Department of Public Works or Department of Building Inspection, two agencies at the center of a federal corruption scandal. I am not saying SFUSD doesn’t need a major overhaul--it does--but much of that opportunity passed when anything related to schools became a political hotwire during COVID. Instead of focusing on how we could improve a school system for all students, and not just those with loud parents (like myself), the district didn’t take a deep look at outdoor education options or how to better support teachers.  A lot of reform is needed in SFUSD, but taking power away from the BOE and handing it to the Mayor (any future Mayor) does not serve this purpose. Remember, the BOE earn $500 per month, their role is to guide policy, but ultimately the administration implements and manages all day to day activities of the district.

This amendment appears to be another “trust me” policy from the Mayor. A Mayor who has done little to earn our trust. You can read the “trust me” word salad here, https://sfmayor.org/article/mayor-london-breed-announces-children-first-ballot-measure .

A Charter Amendment requires approval by a majority of the Board of Supervisors.  The deadline for the June ballot is March 4 (multiple Charter Amendments can be submitted by February 25, but after that date, only one more can be submitted until March 4).